Gems and Berries
by ThePrinceOfFear
Summary: Odd circumstances bring the different members of Teams RWBY and JNPR together in odd pairings. [Friend-shipping]


**Welcome to the first chapter of four in a story exploring the unlikely relationships within Teams RWBY and JNPR.**

 **Please note these are not meant to be romantic relationships, just new friendships. Please enjoy.**

* * *

It was quiet. Much different to the usual mornings.

Lie Ren, the reserved fourth member of Team JNPR opened his eyes slowly. He was staring at a tiled white ceiling. This was not his dorm room.

He attempted to sit up quickly, but was soon rocked by a blinding pain in his side. He let out a quick groan, and then laid back down, out of breath.

"The princess awakes." A voice said from the other side of the room.

With much effort, Ren managed to raise his head enough to see who spoke. Across the room, Ruby Rose, the red-clad leader of Team RWBY sat up in her own bed, with her right leg raised and her left arm in a cast. Various bandages also peppered her face and skin.

Ren thumped his head back to his pillow with a painful exhale.

"What the hell happened?" He asked, ignoring her sassy greeting.

Ruby sighed. "You got hurt during a routine Grimm clearing in the Emerald Forest. Well, _we_ got hurt, I should say."

"Oh yeah." Ren grunted as he remembered.

* * *

It was a normal mission. Every week or so, Ozpin would send two teams to work in tandem to clear out certain segments of the forest to deter any big threats. By keeping the Grimm population at bay, there was less risk of one getting too evolved, too smart. Teams RWBY and JNPR would usually be paired together because of how close they were.

The eight friends had got there about midday, and were just going through the motions. Walking in a tactical circle and taking out any individual Grimm who attacked them, proceeding through the forest at a methodical pace.

Then they came to a large opening in a rock wall. Ruby had ordered Yang to launch a fire shot into the mouth of the cave, and what the shot illuminated was nothing short of a nightmare. Dozens of Beowolves of all shapes and sizes glared at the students. Seven of the friends stood frozen in horror.

Jaune, the only one to keep his head, yelled at the others to retreat to the clearing they had passed through a while back. This shook the others out of their state. They ran back to the small clearing, with Ren and Yang providing cover fire to give their teammates some time.

Once they arrived in a better battlefield, the group reformed to their circular position and prepared to begin combat. The group fought heroically, working together with a skill that required absolute teamwork.

After dispatching a group of younger Beowolves, Ren noticed that Pyrrha had gotten turned around, and was struggling with a particularly large one in the middle of the circle. But Ren was looking at the smaller one charging behind her. He shouted at Nora to keep her guard up and cover for him, and sprinted to his teammate's aid.

When he got near the Grimm, he launched into a jump kick. Once he impacted and felt the familiar crunch, he kicked off into the air. But he wasn't expecting the larger Grimm to grab him by the leg and throw him to a nearby tree. As he slipped out of consciousness, the last thing he heard was a scream of fury.

* * *

"Yeah… The Beowolf that threw you? It is currently a flaming pile of mush and little bone slivers. You can thank Nora for that." Ruby said.

Ren chuckled, and winced at the pain of doing so. "So, what happened to you?" Ren questioned while looking back up at her.

Ruby blushed and looked away sheepishly. "I… Uh." She rubbed the back of her head with her good arm.

"I fell down a cliff."

Ren stared. "What?"

"We were trying to get you up the cliff face to get you help, and I fired the wrong direction. The momentum blew me off and I fell about two stories." She said with what Ren assumed to be her grumpy face.

Ren burst out laughing at the thought. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't laugh. Thank you very much, Ruby. I'm sorry you got hurt because of me."

"No problem, princess."

With much effort, Ren managed to sit up to face her better. He put a hand to his side and felt a thick layer of bandages. With a sigh of defeat, he turned his head and looked around.

Light streamed in through a window, seemingly behind him. He couldn't turn his head enough to look. The divider between beds had his coat on a hook. He stared at it a moment.

Ruby noticed him looking. "When Ozpin called your parents, they sent that for you to replace your old one that had ripped."

Ren cocked his head to the side. "How did they get it here so quick?"

Ruby stared solemnly. "Ren… the mission was four days ago."

"I was asleep for _four days?_ Why didn't anyone try t-" His outburst was cut short by a burning jolt through his spine.

"Wake you up? We tried. Well, Nora tried. Pretty sure she opened up your wounds a couple times."

"Ah. That explains a lot. If you don't mind, I think I might pass out now."

And with that, the pain took Ren back to the quiet.

* * *

The next time Ren woke, it was dark. A single light from a lamp illuminated the room.

He heard the noise of someone struggling. He looked up at Ruby and saw her trying her hardest to reach her signature red cloak, hanging on a hook similar to Ren's coat. He noticed that the tubes and the IV had been removed. He was glad he was unconscious for that.

"Ruby? What are you doing?" Ren muttered groggily.

Ruby jumped. "Ah! Ren!" She took a second to catch her breath.

"Sorry." Ren said as he painfully sat up, rubbing his eyes.

No, no.. I just… didn't know you were up, is all."

"So what were you doing?" Ren asked again.

"I was just.." she stuttered. "I, um." It was obvious she was hesitant to say. Ruby sighed. "I'm trying to grab my cloak. But I can't reach."

"Why are you trying to grab your cloak at…" Ren looked at the clock on the wall above the door. "Two in the morning?"

"I forgot to ask the nurse to give it to me the last time she was here. I need it to sleep."

Ren looked at her, his eyes full of curiosity. Ruby noticed this, and took a deep breath.

"It… it used to be my mom's. The last one she wore before she… um… left." She was starting to choke up.

"… I get it. I know what you mean." Ren said, trying to calm her down. He gestured to his coat.

"You see that? It's an important part of my family. My grandfather had one just like it. It's a symbol of power."

Ruby looked at him and rubbed her eyes.

"Whenever a Lie becomes a great warrior, they get a coat or a robe just like that one. I… inherited… my grandfather's when he passed in battle. My father wasn't one for combat. He's a businessman. So naturally. I was next in line."

"Was the one that ripped your grandfather's?" Ruby asked.

Ren laughed. "No, no, no. That one was torn up years ago."

"Aren't you upset that the coat your grandfather gave you is ruined?"

"I was, but then I realized. His coat… It isn't him. I can get a new coat. But I can't get new memories of him. So I remember his stories, his dreams, his pride… and the coat just gets to remind me."

"And that's enough?" Ruby asked, entranced by Ren's tale.

Ren smiled. "Yes."

Ruby sat in silence. Looking off into space and thinking.

"But… We all deal with things our own way. And I suppose your way requires that cloak."

Ren threw his blankets off himself. With a lot of groaning, he managed to swing his legs off the side of his bed.

"Ren? What are you-" Ruby protested, trying to get up to stop him.

With a sharp intake of breath, Ren stood slowly. He nearly collapsed on his left leg, the one scratched by the Beowolf's claw when it grabbed him. He grabbed on to the side of the bed and pulled himself back up.

"Ren! It's not a big deal!" He ignored her and started to step forward. It was only ten feet. He could do this.

With each step his side burned hotter than before, and he let out a rough grunt. He held his heavily bandaged torso to make sure he didn't start bleeding.

He fought against his body, and his vision was turning red. The whole time, Ruby was protesting his actions.

"You're just going to open up your wounds again, Ren." Ruby said, trying to deter him.

He was almost to the cloak. "Yeah, well, apparently Nora's already done that so it's nothing new." Ren spat out through gritted teeth.

He reached out and balanced himself against the divider that the cloak was hung on. He managed to grab the red cloak that was his goal and laid it on the girl in the bed. Ruby was quiet and just staring at him.

"Do you mind if I.." He panted, gesturing to the foot of her bed.

"Go ahead… um… thank you." She replied, shifting as much as she could. He sat on the bed, breathing heavily and holding his side. He sat there a while, sweat stuck to his face.

Ruby stared at him. The two sat in relative silence, save for his ragged breaths, and Ruby just kept staring.

"I have a question. No wait. Two questions."

Ren let out a slightly deeper sigh, and Ruby took that as a sign to continue. She shuffled, and thought carefully before proceeding.

"First… Why?" She asked.

"Why what?" Ren said, finally catching his breath.

"Why would you almost kill yourself for me? We aren't exactly the best of friends, and we haven't really ever spoken too much."

"I'm being nice, Ruby. You needed the cape, and you can't walk. I can." He replied.

"You shouldn't." She noted.

"I'm being grateful. From what you told me, you helped save my life." He tried to explain. "You got hurt, and I'm trying to repay you."

"You don't need to do that. But, you're welcome." She said.

Ren took a long breath. "Okay. Second question. Go."

"Are gonna die? 'Cause if you are, don't do it on my hospital bed." She burst out giggling, and Ren couldn't help but join in. He winced and grabbed his side in pain, and the two quieted down.

"Thank you, Ren. It means a lot." Ruby wiped the tears from laughing out of her eyes. "This has been fun. I think I've heard you talk more tonight than I have in the year and a half I've known you."

"Yeah… We should do this more." He replied.

"Well, we're both going to be in this room together for a while… We have tons of time." She giggled.

Ruby looked to the clock. It read 3:30 AM. "Ah, jeez. We gotta sleep. Blake and Nora will be back tomorrow morning and are coming to see us."

Ren stood up slowly and painfully. "Coming back?" he muttered as he took his first step in the trek back to the comfort of his bed.

"Yeah… You were asleep, so yesterday Nora invited Blake to join her on a combat mission in a town outside the kingdom." Ruby yawned before continuing. "Blake said that Nora is really upset she didn't get to be the one to wake you up."

Ren decided to make it back to his bed before responding. With a lot of guttural noises and jets of pain, he finally made it and laid down.

"Ah. I forgot about how Nora's going to react to me waking up." He sighed.

"Yeah. That'll be fun." Ruby managed to say through another yawn.

"Hey Ren?"

"Yeah, Ruby?

"I like you better when you talk. You should do that more."

"Will do, Ruby."

"Hey Ren?"

"Yeah, Ruby?

"I think I might pass out now."

"Okay. Goodnight, Ruby."

And with that, the red clad warrior snuggled tight to her cloak, and make an adorable noise of content. Her snores could be heard shortly after.

Ren relaxed, and began to channel his Aura to his bruises and cuts on his torso. He did it for as long as he could before the embrace of sleep took him as well.

The unlikely duo slept asleep across the room from each other in preparation of the bright pink tornado that would strike them in a few short hours. They both fell asleep with the comfort that the other would be there when they awoke, and their friendship could grow even further in days to come.

The Rose and The Lotus had begun to bloom.

* * *

 **I do not own RWBY or any characters within.**

 **Leave a review if you want, it helps me learn what and what not to do in the future! ^-^**


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